THREE POSTCARDS FROM MEXICO CITY: LÓPEZ VELARDE, HUERTA, PACHECO
THREE POSTCARDS FROM MEXICO CITY: LÓPEZ VELARDE, HUERTA, PACHECO

Summary/Abstract: This chapter discusses the visions of three of the leading voices in 20thCentury Mexican letters: Ramón López Velarde, hailed as Mexico’s ‘national poet’,Efraín Huerta, perhaps the best poet of the second half of the last century, and José Emilio Pacheco, a poet, essayist and translator, whose mastery of form and ‘inneremotional involvement’ were praised by no other than Huerta himself. In more than one way, the three were the antipodes of each other, yet if there is one single them common to all three is their passionate love for Mexico City. The Mexican capital can be described as a place where past, present and future meet in perfect harmony.Majestic colonial buildings stand atop the ruins of pre-Columbian Aztec temples. In other, more gentrified, areas the skyline and sleek architecture conjure up images of Singapore ore other adrenaline-charged metropolises. In the poetic imagery of our three poets, Mexico City is alternatively characterised as a motherly figure, a seductress and a whore. The city is a God-given haven sheltering the destitute, the hordes of poor Indians that throng to the capital in their quest for a brighter future.Similarly it is a mother, one that that loves its children, poor or rich, in equal measure. But the city is also a heavily made up prostitute whose stale perfume both repels and enchants. Without their particular idiom each poet paints a most accurate portrait of Mexico City’s misery and splendour.

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